Not only did the commander in chief skip the centennial WWI ceremony and Arlington cemetery, he has yet to visit U.S. troops in a war zone: Our view

During his campaign and since his election, President Donald Trump has cast himself as an unwavering champion of the military and "the vets."

Based on some of his recent actions, he sure has a funny way of showing it:

►Last Saturday, Trump skipped a visit to a cemetery outside Paris to honor slain U.S. soldiers and Marines on the centennial of World War I. Other international leaders, Trump's chief of staff and the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff managed to make the rainy day journey.

►The commander in chief deployed service members as political pawns, taking 5,800 troops away from their families during the holidays and sending them to the U.S.-Mexico border before the midterm elections while railing about immigrant caravans "invading" the United States.

►In nearly two years in office, the commander in chief has never traveled into a war zone to spend time with deployed troops, something his predecessors did in every major conflict and incursion dating to World War II.

It's one thing for the president to commit, as duties require, to appropriate care and treatment of veterans. "Fact is, I've done a lot," Trump boasted Thursday about the VA, in damage-control mode after the Paris controversy.

Which misses the point. As head of the executive branch of government, it is Trump's job to ensure competent management of that and other Cabinet positions. It's also part of the job description to honor those in uniform, even if you don't feel like it on a given day — to show appreciation and devotion to military men and women who are willing to make, and who have made, the ultimate sacrifice for country.

Granted, empathy isn't Trump's strong suit. In the book "Fear," about the Trump presidency, author Bob Woodward writes that a few weeks after the inaugural, the president made an effort, in an unannounced trip to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, to comfort the family of a Navy SEAL killed during an operation in Yemen. The experience rattled the new commander in chief, and he vowed not to go back to Dover.

if consoling military families is too distressing, here's an uplifting alternative: Make a surprise visit on Thanksgiving or Christmas to the U.S. service members at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

Too far from Mar-a-Lago? Then drop in on Base Camp Donna in south Texas, where soldiers mark time putting up concertina wire along the border. They'd also appreciate being served turkey by the commander in chief on another holiday away from home.